All-Star 3 Year Old Bhs Thread Raised A Question

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Mar 24, 2010
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Assuming most of you have read at least the first page of the 3 year old BHS thread talking about how unsafe it is for any child under the age of 5 to be going inverted as their bodies are not developed enough. My question is why is the tiny division which is 5 years and younger required to be doing BWO and Bridges when is is unsafe for the developing bodies? We are always so concerned with limiting the dangerous level 5 skills I just want to know that the little ones are just as much a concern... Any insight is very much appreciated :)
 
I could be wrong, but from what I've seen, there aren't a lot of tiny teams with athletes under the age 4 at the least, and the kids who appear to be younger than that don't usually do a lot of the bridging skills in routines. I've seen a few kids that were under the age of 5 that are ready to move on to learning level 2 tumbling, but I just never really questioned it until I read through the 3 year old BHS thread. I think the idea of it being unhealthy for children to bridge their bodies like that was mainly brought up because the person who created that thread was trying to force her child to do a back handspring. Maybe it's different when the child them self is ready to start bending their bodies like that? It may still be just as unhealthy, but I don't really know. That's a good question.
 
I teach anatomy and physiology, and I did some research after reading the thread. Based on what I have been able to find on the subject it seems that there are arguments on both sides and no real definitive conclusion. There is some indication that it could be harmful, but also arguments to support that it is just fine in moderation.


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I grew up in gymnastics and teaching gymnastics, and still do, that is where the USAG recommends not doing bridges until the age of 5. In gymnastics it is all about form and how it looks. Alot more time is spent on bridges/backbends/walkovers in that sport and getting the body form. You build up to the skill and do not move on until you get a previous skill. Not many girls under the age of 5 really compete as a gymnast. Nothing against cheerleading (it is my daughter's life) and mine at this moment :) BUT cheer is alot more about "Chucking" the skill at first and not worrying about form. You can always spot a former gymnast by how they tumble! Plus I also think alot of the tinies are not 3 and 4 and if they are they are they are doing cartwheels and rolls. Moderation is the key when teaching young ones in ANY sport.
 
I grew up in gymnastics and teaching gymnastics, and still do, that is where the USAG recommends not doing bridges until the age of 5. In gymnastics it is all about form and how it looks. Alot more time is spent on bridges/backbends/walkovers in that sport and getting the body form. You build up to the skill and do not move on until you get a previous skill. Not many girls under the age of 5 really compete as a gymnast. Nothing against cheerleading (it is my daughter's life) and mine at this moment :) BUT cheer is alot more about "Chucking" the skill at first and not worrying about form. You can always spot a former gymnast by how they tumble! Plus I also think alot of the tinies are not 3 and 4 and if they are they are they are doing cartwheels and rolls. Moderation is the key when teaching young ones in ANY sport.
I see the comments about gymnastics vs cheer tumbling over and over so there must be some validity to it in the cheer/gymnastics world, but it just hasn't been my experience with a child who has been in both a gymnastics and cheer gym. My experience with the gymnastics gym was that if you were there just for tumbling or no interested in competing you actually got less quality instruction on proper form and conditioning for safe tumbling than we have gotten at the cheer gym. The gymnastics gym seemed to just be interested in teaching the next skill. Admittedly, these were lower level classes but I would think teaching proper form would be more important there.


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I see the comments about gymnastics vs cheer tumbling over and over so there must be some validity to it in the cheer/gymnastics world, but it just hasn't been my experience with a child who has been in both a gymnastics and cheer gym. My experience with the gymnastics gym was that if you were there just for tumbling or no interested in competing you actually got less quality instruction on proper form and conditioning for safe tumbling than we have gotten at the cheer gym. The gymnastics gym seemed to just be interested in teaching the next skill. Admittedly, these were lower level classes but I would think teaching proper form would be more important there.


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I was just saying gymnastics is more so about legs together, toes pointed, body form etc on skills.....gymnasts are scored more on form than cheer, that's all. Where I have taught, gymnastic it is all about progression, you learn one skill before moving onto next . Not saying cheer gyms, or any gyms I hope, do not take safety seriously.
 
I was just saying gymnastics is more so about legs together, toes pointed, body form etc on skills.....gymnasts are scored more on form than cheer, that's all. Where I have taught, gymnastic it is all about progression, you learn one skill before moving onto next . Not saying cheer gyms, or any gyms I hope, do not take safety seriously.
It's just interesting to me, because my personal experience has been the opposite. There is much more focus on proper form and progression at our cheer gym than there ever was in our rec tumbling classes at the gymnastics gym. I think it may have been different for competition gymnasts, but for the rec kids the attitude seemed to be that form wasn't that important, and they really didn't teach a solid conditioning program in rec tumbling. There is much more emphasis on legs together/ straight, pointed toes, arms i. The proper place, proper entrance/ exit to a skill, ect in our cheer gym than we ever go in rec tumbling at the gymnastics place. It was like you had to be on their competitive track for all of that to be taken seriously.


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I grew up in gymnastics and teaching gymnastics, and still do, that is where the USAG recommends not doing bridges until the age of 5. In gymnastics it is all about form and how it looks. Alot more time is spent on bridges/backbends/walkovers in that sport and getting the body form. You build up to the skill and do not move on until you get a previous skill. Not many girls under the age of 5 really compete as a gymnast. Nothing against cheerleading (it is my daughter's life) and mine at this moment :) BUT cheer is alot more about "Chucking" the skill at first and not worrying about form. You can always spot a former gymnast by how they tumble! Plus I also think alot of the tinies are not 3 and 4 and if they are they are they are doing cartwheels and rolls. Moderation is the key when teaching young ones in ANY sport.
Couldn't agree with you more! I was a former gymnast and whenever I tumble you can tell. Our cheer team is based in a gymnastics gym, and many of the girls on the team get mad when we are at tumbling and the coach doesn't let them work on the skill they want. Usually because they aren't ready and cannot perform a proper backhand spring so they have no business throwing tucks, and asking to do layouts. A lot of our tumbling class time is spent reteaching the basics. A lot of times I cringe when I go to cheer competitions and see scary tumbling or just awful technique. Sorry to go off a little but this has always bugged me.


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Couldn't agree with you more! I was a former gymnast and whenever I tumble you can tell. Our cheer team is based in a gymnastics gym, and many of the girls on the team get mad when we are at tumbling and the coach doesn't let them work on the skill they want. Usually because they aren't ready and cannot perform a proper backhand spring so they have no business throwing tucks, and asking to do layouts. A lot of our tumbling class time is spent reteaching the basics. A lot of times I cringe when I go to cheer competitions and see scary tumbling or just awful technique. Sorry to go off a little but this has always bugged me.


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yes yes yes! I was taught by a gymnastics coach (via privates) when I was stuck with fulls. She had to reteach me the basics because my form on my layout was too arched/ not hollowed to allow me to fully twist. Now years later, I am so thankful that she stopped me and made me start from scratch. I now have a "gymnast" full and working on that double ;) but it does bother me to no end how cheereladers just chuck a skill. I just hate teaching classes and having girls who have the scariest, whippiest layout ever try telling me that they need to twist. Uh uh no way!!
 
I've seen 6 year olds throwing fulls. Like the coach from cheer perfection's younger daughter threw one.


Like, isn't it dangerous for their bodies? They're so young and their bones are so fragile!
 
I was just saying gymnastics is more so about legs together, toes pointed, body form etc on skills.....gymnasts are scored more on form than cheer, that's all. Where I have taught, gymnastic it is all about progression, you learn one skill before moving onto next . Not saying cheer gyms, or any gyms I hope, do not take safety seriously.
Gotta agree here. I think cheer basically scores you if you "land" it, and good technique is just gravy. Whereas gymnastics, landing is expected and the technique is where the score comes from.

I mean who else watched that vault in the Olympics 47 times to try and find the .3 in deductions????


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I have a question too. I know in the original thread, I'm the one who brought up that kids shouldn't bridge under five. And I still will not encourage/allow a three or four year old to learn bridges while I'm teaching their class. But...
What if they come in with it? Do you tell them to stop? I've recently come upon the unique case of having a three year old come in off the street able to hold a perfect bridge. Now four, she can do a beautiful bridge kick over. What do you do with really talented kids? Or kids who learned it elsewhere and can now do it?


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I have a question too. I know in the original thread, I'm the one who brought up that kids shouldn't bridge under five. And I still will not encourage/allow a three or four year old to learn bridges while I'm teaching their class. But...
What if they come in with it? Do you tell them to stop? I've recently come upon the unique case of having a three year old come in off the street able to hold a perfect bridge. Now four, she can do a beautiful bridge kick over. What do you do with really talented kids? Or kids who learned it elsewhere and can now do it?


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We have many 4 year olds with bridge kick overs at our gym. I really don't think based on what I have read on the subject that 2 days a week at cheer practice is going to cause lasting damage. The research really seems to support the idea of it being damaging when do e every day for extended periods, like in an Olympic track gymnastic program that trains 6 days a week for multiple hours. They start the Chinese gymnastic prospects in a residential program at 3-4 years old. That is the kind of situations where you see the long term damage.


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